Freestanding bridge or gantry type cranes for lifting systems are well-known. An example of such systems is found in the brochure published by Gorbel, Inc. (assignee), titled “FREE STANDING WORK STATION BRIDGE CRANES,” © 2008, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. However, such systems are not often practical for small garages, and work areas having limited overhead clearances and confined areas in which to install traditional overhead gantry systems. To address the need for a light duty, economical lifting system, the embodiments disclosed herein provide a lifting system that can be self-installed by a minimum of two people, without the assistance of rigging equipment. The system further maximizes the lifting height by employing a runway design that does not waste limited overhead space in garage bays and similar work areas.
Disclosed in embodiments herein is an improved overhead lifting system, comprising: at least two pairs of upright support columns arranged to define corners of a rectangular area; a pair of lightweight parallel crane runways, reinforced by trusses, spanning each of said pair of columns, said runways being attached to the tops of the columns; and a movable crane bridge member perpendicular to and spanning a distance between the pair of crane runway trusses, said crane bridge member being slidably connected to the runways to permit each end of the bridge member to move in unison along the entire linear path defined by the respective crane runways.
Further disclosed in embodiments herein is an improved gantry crane runway, comprising: an upper most U-shaped channel in which an end-truck travels along the length of the channel; and a linear truss type reinforcement attached to the C-channel underside, said reinforcement defining, in conjunction with said C-channel, a plurality of triangular reinforcement sections.
Also disclosed in embodiments described herein is a method for constructing the gantry crane system with truss supported runways, comprising: installing two pairs of support columns, each of said columns placed in a vertical orientation at respective corners of a rectangular region (e.g., having a perimeter dimension of about 10×15 feet and a nominal column height of about 10 feet), said columns being attached to a level floor or similar substructure using ¾ anchor bolts; attaching a pair of parallel gantry crane runways spanning each of said pair of columns along the length of the rectangle, said runways being placed on top of and subsequently bolted to the columns; and placing, on top of the runways a movable bridge member perpendicular to and spanning a distance between the pair of gantry crane runways, said bridge member being slidably connected to the runways via an end truck to permit each end of the bridge member to move along a linear path defined by the respective gantry crane runways.
The various embodiments described herein are not intended to limit the invention to those embodiments described. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.